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Broken Road: Country at heart

Drummer Brad Smith, a veteran of Nashville's studios and live shows, was assembling a band to accompany the Country Music Hall of Famer last December, but the arrangement crumbled when some of the colleagues he recruited had second thoughts about going back out on the road.

But from that disappointment, good fortune sprang in the form of a friend who introduced Smith to vocalist Tim Cadiere, which convinced Smith to call on some fellow Nashville Cats to form the band Broken Road.

"Two weeks after I met Tim, we were in Nashville, recording 'Thinkin' Outside the Box,' " Smith says of the band's debut single, which was released in August and has received national airplay. "Six weeks later, the song charted on Music Row and, long story short, we got a (album) deal, bought a bus and went out on the road."

With a full-length album set for release in January, Gainesville's Broken Road - Smith, Cadiere, Chad Gantt (guitar), Waylin Wright (violin), new member Andrew Benfield (bass) and Austin Tripp (steel guitar) - will perform in concert Friday at the Morton Theatre, with a silent auction benefiting Nuçi's Space and free beer from local brewmaestros Terrapin.

The band has been performing with Grammy Award-nominee Jake Owens and will see 2010 come in on tour with Music City veteran Ty Herndon and up-and-coming Texan Jason Michael Carroll.

"We're playing on New Year's Eve with Ty at the Nashville Palace," says Smith, who lives in Jennings Mill.

"We've practiced there before, and we really believe in their cause," Smith says of Nuçi's Space. "We decided to have a show in Athens with a silent auction. We've got some good stuff for the auction - autographed stuff by Brooks & Dunn and Mark Wills."

"They came by and pitched the idea, and that's always a great conversation to have," says Bob Sleppy, executive director of Nuçi's Space, which this month is celebrating its ninth anniversary. "It means a lot when folks who actively utilize the space become part of the community and want to give back.

"We're so happy for their success kicking in - it looks like good things are happening for them. And as all this is happening, they're thinking of Nu i's Space. That means a lot to all of us."

Smith says there are days when he still tries to get a grip on how quickly Broken Road has worked its way into such a favorable career position.

"It's just incredible," he says. "We couldn't believe how fast things started happening. It's kind of weird, because we've been working with (award-winning producer) Bruce Bennett, and what we've recorded is so much different from 'Thinkin' Outside the Box.'

"We got together in December and recorded a single that came out in August - it was basically six months of playing together. I am surprised things happened so fast, but the Internet has changed everything, especially in terms of building a fan base. You can get radio and trending reports and go to the places where you're hot, instead of killing yourself playing all over the place. You can cherry-pick."

Joined by the Griffin-based Ben Ratliff Band and the duo of Keith Burns and Michelle Poe, Broken Road will perform most of the songs from its upcoming album, with a few special covers thrown in.

"We'll stick to the album, but we've got a couple of songs by Hank Williams, and we've even got a K.C. and the Sunshine Band tune," Smith says. "We're jazz players by education and country players by heart."